Daily Dose — Nelson Recognizes Athletic Leader Travis Hauck
By Ari Lord
If Nelson was looking for a person to champion its sporting interests, then the committee selecting Nelson’s 2022 Sports Ambassador have found the right person for the job.
Travis Hauck lives and breathes sports, and is thrilled to be chosen as the City of Nelson’s 2022 Sports Ambassador in December.
“I’m honoured to be recognized for the activities that I’ve participated in and organized,” Hauck explained, touched by the honour.
The City of Nelson Sports Ambassador is awarded every year to an individual athlete, group or team who has achieved a high standard of excellence in their athletic pursuits and who has represented Nelson’s sports and recreational community.
Hauck, when he’s not busting down the any one a number of mountainous cross country bike trails during the competitive season, teaches cross country ski lessons for the Nelson Nordic Ski Club through their school outreach program.
During the summer, the full-time bike racer and is a bike instructor.
He also organizes a couple of running events in the area, such as the popular event, Tackle the Toad. He also helped organize the Nelson fat tire festival, an event that raises money for local trail maintenance. On top of all that, he plays hockey in Nelson’s Men’s league.
He hopes to inspire others to stay active.
“I hope that I inspire somebody to either volunteer or get out and try new activities and just make the best out of this massive outdoor playground that we have, whether it’s hiking, walking, running, biking, swimming,” says Hauck.
Before COVID, Hauck worked for a prominent mountain biking company as a senior instructor. He has felt lucky to be minimally impacted by the pandemic and has continued to have outdoor sport-related work throughout this time.
Hauck likes to be busy. In addition to his part-time jobs teaching sports lessons, he works several sales jobs from home. One of his jobs is selling mountain bikes across Canada for a company in the US.
Hauck is building a sports-related career, and receiving this award is helping him on that track.
“It’s going to look good on the resume going forward for me. I’m excited to now have that,” says Hauck.
He has many sports-related dreams he would like to see come to fruition locally.
“It would be nice (to host) a triathlon,” the father of two, and married to wife Tobi, explained.
“Nelson used to have a long-standing triathlon in the city, and it was fun, and then burnout kind of got the people; no one kept it going. I’ve always thought of one of those cross-fit events or the Tough Mudder; lakeside beach park is such a cool venue to have those ‘up and over’ obstacle kind of events. There’s no reason that a curling tournament couldn’t happen like it used to.”
He sees sports events as a great way to bring people into town in a playful way that supports our local economy.
Hauck is looking to the future of his involvement in the local sports community. His understanding is that the city council is exploring the possibility of hiring someone who has the proper credentials for planning activities in the community or having a sports city council position at some point. This type of future role would be right up Hauck’s alley.
Hauck has lived in Nelson for over two decades. He moved here in 1999 from Saskatoon.
“I was lucky to find Nelson and have some friends around here that helped me get started,” he says.
His favourite thing about living here is how much there is to do outdoors: “Hiking, biking outdoor stuff, the lake. You should never have a dull day in the Kootenays.”
Hauck will continue to inspire people to be active outdoors:
“People need challenges to keep them on their toes, keep them thinking. There is so much to see and explore, so get out there and check it out.”
Hauck receives a $1,000 honorarium to assist in his ventures of promoting sports in Nelson.
With Hauck at the helm as Sports Ambassador, the City of Nelson will see that return on its investment increase ten-fold 2022.
